Teen in Homemade Clock Arrest 'Glad This Happened to Me'

October 20, 2015

(WASHINGTON) — Fresh off his visit to the White House for Astrology Night, Ahmed Mohamed made an appearance on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a news conference about his clock-related arrest with a Democratic lawmaker.

“I am glad that this happened to me,” Ahmed, 14, said.

“I get to spread my word out to the people and tell them it’s not about the color of your skin or your religion.”

Ahmed was mistakenly arrested in Irving, Texas, last month after one of his high school teachers thought a homemade clock he brought to class looked like a bomb.

“You always judge a person by their heart, not by what they look like,” he added.

Ahmed, his father and other relatives appeared with Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., who has asked the Justice Department to look into Ahmed’s arrest and treatment by police and teachers.

“No student should face that kind of treatment,” Honda, 74, said.

Honda, a third-generation Japanese-American who said he was bullied about his last name as a kid, offered Ahmed words of encouragement.

“Ahmed, you must continue to stand strong and be proud of where you come from,” he said.

Ahmed also dished on his conversation with President Obama Monday night.

“I told him about Mars,” he said. “We were talking about astronomy.”

He said he was surprised by how much the president knew about astronomy.